EC asleep on populism

As parties aggressively wage a full-blown "populism war" to woo voters ahead of the Feb 8 election, all eyes are on the Election Commission (EC).

- 

The question is whether the agency can take action and rein in examples of populism that ultimately use taxpayers' money to simply attract voters.The public has every reason to be concerned, given the campaign pledges of the 51 parties contesting the election — ranging from ever more generous handouts and welfare schemes to cash-based incentives worth several trillion baht.

Under Section 57 of the Political Parties Act, the EC has a duty to scrutinise campaign policies, checking sources of funding while ensuring that, if implemented, they are cost-effective and do not pose fiscal risks to the budget, as past policies have done.

This scrutiny must be carried out no later than 20 days before the poll.